Shadow of God (17 page)

“My son, that is the way of our Sultans. That you do not follow in the footsteps of your father or your great-grandfather in that regard is of no consequence. It is your choice, and I think at least the
Kadin
, your First Woman, Gülbehar, the Flower of Spring, may give thanks to Allah for that. It’s too bad that Gülbehar has not learned to read,” she said as an afterthought. “She would love the poems you have written. She keeps them in a silk brocade bag, as her own treasure.”

Suleiman nodded and said, “Yes, I think she would.”

“You know,” she went on, “I always was amused at the way the Sultan has to follow the rules and traditions that an ordinary man is not bound by. Why, the ritual Selim followed just to spend the night with a woman was hardly worth the trouble. He would have to arrange on the day before to send for the Black Eunuch, and tell him of his desire. For the
next day!
A girl would have to be chosen to ‘Walk the Golden Way’ with the Sultan. The girls would be bathed and dressed and lined up in the main courtyard of the harem, while Selim walked before them. Sometimes on horseback—since he was the only one allowed on horseback beyond the
Bab-i-Salam
, the Gate of Salutation.

“But, usually he would just walk in front of the line,” and she laughed, “pretending faint interest. He would greet each girl casually with the Black Eunuch walking three paces behind him. He would banter with the girls, and when he found one he liked, he would take a silk handkerchief from his robes and place it upon her shoulder.”

Hafiza pantomimed the parade, playing the parts of the Sultan, the Black Eunuch, and the girls. Suleiman suppressed his laughter, but he could not help smiling at her story. He had always loved his
mother’s storytelling. “A handkerchief! Really!” she said. “Then, as if they were merely out to take the afternoon air, and as if the girls were just another row of trees in the garden—or should I say a row of roses—he and the Eunuch walked on together and admired the wild animals. They would feed the peacocks and chase the ostrich. Sometimes an elephant was there to amuse them. Or a leopard.” Hafiza was gaining momentum, and Suleiman had almost forgotten why he had come to the harem.

“Later—perhaps he has lost the urge by then, I imagine; it is so late after all—he goes to his bed, and tells the servant to bring the girl to him, that she might return his handkerchief. The eunuch brings the girl and the handkerchief—praise Allah that he gets his handkerchief back!—and the Eunuch is dismissed until it is time to return the girl to the harem.” She giggled again, and said, “Yes, praise Allah for the handkerchief. The next day the girl is sent a dress and a few
aspers
. A gold dress if she has made him
very
happy. And maybe an extra maid or two to wait upon her. Then he will stay in the
serai
for several days, perhaps sending for more girls if he wishes, until he either returns to me or back to war.”

She paused, realizing that she may have gone too far in making fun of a custom that her son, too, might continue. Then she thought,
But, I am the
Sultan Valideh,
and I can say what I will. I am not afraid to offend the Sultan. He is still but my son.
Suleiman became serious. He was feeling the pain and shame that his mother must have felt. “And didn’t this hurt you, Mother?”

“My son, it is not easy for a mother to talk of this to her child. But, your father is dead, and you are a grown man now, with your own
Kadin
. You are the Sultan.” She thought for a moment, hard pressed to reveal more emotions to her son. In the harem, the women sought each other for comfort and advice. They were so completely cut off from the rest of the world that they formed a tight bond of friendship with each other. Though they were competing for the Sultan’s attention, there was an undeniable sisterhood of great strength. And though they lived lives of idle luxury, the emotional price they paid was very high. “So, yes, I will say it. I loved your father. But, I did not welcome his presence in my bed.”

Ottoman Sultans did not marry their women. There was no ceremony to bind them together as there was for the ordinary Muslim. The
Kadin
could be displaced by another woman at any time. The greatest security came only to the woman who conceived the Sultan’s favorite son, thus becoming the
Sultan Valideh
.

“He may have written love poems or war poems to me.” Hafiza said, “but, he was not kind, nor gentle, nor considerate of my feelings when he came to my bed. So, for me it was of no consequence if he stayed many nights in the harem with one of the girls. That was just so many nights he was not here with me. As long as I was the
Kadin,
I bore what I had to. I was seventeen when I gave birth to you, but I became the
Sultan Valideh
, and my position became secure because my son was the heir to the throne. I don’t know if there were other women who bore the Sultan’s child, and if there were, I don’t know what became of them. Perhaps your great-grandfather’s law intervened. I’m sorry if this hurts you, my son. But, it is the truth.”

Suleiman, again, was quiet while he pondered his mother’s words. It had not been thoughts of the Sultan and the harem that had been keeping him awake. Now there was much more to roil the waters of his mind. He had come to speak to his mother of affairs of state. Now he was mired in the sensuality of the harem. Of his father. Worse yet, of his mother!

“Thank you, Mother,” he said as he gently touched her cheek, “but no more of this. This is not why I am here. I have always valued—no, treasured—your advice. And I am in need of it now. Tomorrow, I meet the Imperial
Divan
to advise me as to the matter of the Knights of Rhodes. These Infidels have harassed our trade routes between Istanbul and Egypt for longer than I care to think of it. They have disrupted the trade with the East, and have stolen treasure that is ours. They kill and enslave our sailors, and capture our ships and galleys.” Hafiza watched her son grow agitated, though he maintained an outer face of control and calm. “They rule from their fortress on Rhodes and hold power over us. We are the strongest force on Earth and this handful of Christians strikes at our heart without fear or remorse

“But, my council is divided. Some oppose a war against the knights. They point to the siege laid by Mehmet, forty-two years ago. They say that if Mehmet, the Conqueror, could not take Rhodes, then neither can we. Surely you have heard talk of this?”

“Yes, I have. And I have no information to help you with a decision, my son. I am your loyal friend, but I cannot guide you in this. No mother wants to see her son go off to war. But, that is a woman’s point of view. If we women ruled the empire, I should think there would be fewer wars by far. A great pity
we
do not rule.”

Suleiman got up and began to pace in front of his mother. She remained completely calm and silent. “Men rule the world, Mother. We govern and we go to war. Women will never rule.”

Then he let out a long sigh, as if releasing all his frustration into the air with his breath. He turned to Hafiza and asked, “Do you believe in the prophesy of dreams?”

“I do.”

“Then hear this one that I dreamt last night. In the dream, you were already dead, though you still appeared to me as an apparition. You spoke to me in the dream and assured me that victory would certainly be mine; that I
should
join the battle.”

“Suleiman, I don’t know what this dream means. Dreams may tell the truth, and they may deceive. If I were dead in your dream, and I am not dead in this life, then does that mean the dream is true or misleading? I have no idea. Do not decide such an issue on what may have been the result of a troubled mind at the time of sleep. Or too spicy a piece of lamb for your dinner. Go to your
Divan.
Take their counsel and weigh it carefully. Then make your decision and, having made it, stand by it with all your might.”

Suleiman bowed his head, and hugged his mother. “
Salaam Aleichum.
Peace be upon you, Mother.”

“And upon you, my son.”

Suleiman sat on the
divan
in his Privy Chamber. He had heard a great deal about the man who now sat upon the cushions directly opposite him. “I think my father introduced you to me many years ago. On one of my brief visits to the Palace,” he said.

Moses Hamon, now Chief Physician to Suleiman, sat on his cushions in front of the Sultan. He answered, “Yes, Majesty. I remember it very well. You had returned from Manisa to greet your father on his return from one of his campaigns. You met us outside the city. I recall your riding a wonderful brown stallion.”

Suleiman smiled and nodded. “Yes. Indeed, I ride him still.”

“My caravan passed by,” Hamon continued, “and your father stopped me to present me to you. He was very proud of you. He would have been pleased to see that your ascension to Sultan was so smooth.”

Suleiman nodded, and said, “My mother tells me you served our family well. The Sultans of the House of Osman have not wanted for excellent physicians since your family landed on our shores so long ago. When the king and queen of Spain expelled the Jews from their land, they did us a great, if inadvertent, service.”

“You are very kind, Majesty.”

“
Inch’ Allah
, I will never have need of your services,” Suleiman said with a little laugh.

“Believe it or not, Majesty, others have said that very thing to me. Everyone wants to have a good physician and never have to use him.”

Suleiman smiled, and said, “You have a family here in Istanbul?”

“Yes, Majesty. My wife and son live with me when I am home, which I hope will be more frequently now. My father, Joseph, died in Damascus. He had served as Royal Physician to your Grandfather, Bayazid, and to your father as well. He accompanied Selim in the military campaign against the Mamelukes in Egypt, but died on the return journey.”

Suleiman said, “I knew him only slightly. I was away most of the time, and he was kept close to my father’s side. But, all of the Court spoke well of him. And your son?”

“My son is named for his grandfather, Joseph. He needs me now. There is much for me to teach him that he will not learn in school. One of the most important parts of scholarship is the process of handing it on to the next generation. As important, I think, as the practice of scholarship itself.”

“Your people have always placed great emphasis on education, have they not?”

“Yes, Majesty, we have. We believe that there is no better tool to insure success than an education. Jewish parents will do almost anything to ensure that their children are educated. And, of course, the professions have the greatest appeal. Most areas of business and trade are closed to us. For centuries, we have not been permitted to own land. All over Europe, there have been proscriptions against our participation in any but a few livelihoods. In our family, we would consider nothing less than entering the medical profession. To learn. To serve. To heal the sick when we can. These are gifts from God. At the moment, this palace is served by sixty-two physicians, of whom forty-one are Jews”

Suleiman nodded, but did not speak. Hamon went on. “As long ago as the reign of your great-grandfather, Mehmet, the court employed the greatest physician of his day, Jacob of Gaeta. He was a Jew, though I think he converted to Islam in the later days of his life. He even became a Vizier before he died.”

“Turkey is a good place for your people. The Christians, however, have not adjusted to change so easily. They still look to the time when they will overthrow the Muslims, and force their ways upon everyone.”

“My people were slaughtered in Spain, and then again in Portugal,” Hamon said. “The Inquisition has spread all over Europe, and the Christians have made it clear that Jews will not survive in their lands.”

“My ancestors have looked at your people with different eyes, Doctor. We think of you as our
rayas
, our flocks. My ancestors were nomads, shepherds. The Ottomans know the value of culling a flock, but not destroying it. The European Christians think that they should rule a country where everyone is of one religion. The king of the country thinks he should determine the religion of all his subjects. The rest are killed if they do not comply. We see your expulsion from Spain as the killing of a fertile ewe. You have come here with a fecundity of skills and knowledge. Why would we want to destroy such a gift?”

Hamon did not answer. He looked down at the carpet, and tried to detect whether the Sultan was leading him into a discussion that might become dangerous. Suleiman went on. “Tell me, Doctor Hamon, what do you see in our city that you think should be changed? Though I try to get out among the people as often as I can, it’s not possible for me to experience the real world. I am protected from violence by my guards. But, they also protect me from the truth. What do you see out
there
?” he said gesturing to the window overlooking the gardens and the Bosporus.

Hamon considered for a moment and said, “Majesty, I too have some trouble finding a way into the real world. My position as Court Physician places me within the Palace most of the time as well. But, there are things I
have
seen and heard that might be fit for your consideration.”